The Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

Last week I attended the Forum on Government and Public Policy featuring Chuck Raasch, author of Imperfect Union: A Father’s Search for His Son in the Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg that was held at the Lewis Auditorium. I enjoyed listening to his lecture about his book and his passion for history. Raasch believes that in his mind, the Battle of Gettysburg is the biggest human made disaster, and he explained he felt the need to write his book because he wanted readers to understand the eternal aftermath of war. Imperfect Union revolves around a father, Sam Wilkeson, who lost his son, Bayard, on his first day of battle in the Battle of Gettysburg. After his son’s death, Sam Wilkeson wrote one of the most impactful reports in U.S. history

Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is

The Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped America’s future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The

The Killer Angels is a stunning recollection of the telltale battle of the Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg. Set from June 29 to July 3, 1863 and told from the vantage points of several soldiers and commanding officers from both sides, including Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain, Michael Shaara effectively paints a picture of the war that divided America, from the tactical planning to the emotional hardships

This book relates to American history by showing you the perspective of both sides. The side of Lincoln who wanted to do nothing but great things for this nation and the side of John Wilkes Booth who had a terrible plot to kill a great man. While reading this book I learned how Abraham Lincolns job was far from over after the civil war, he had to convince the American people that the war was for the benefit of the country because the war was the most brutal the nation had ever seen. I would recommend this book to any student interested in American history because it shows some key events in the civil war and shows how Lincolns point of view was not what was better for

The Slopes of War written by N.A. Perez follows a realistic fictitious story about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, which is also told by the characters told in different perspectives, the Union and the Confederates. The story utilizes many historical facts regarding the battle, even including dialogues from Union and Confederate generals. It also tells us the audience the emotional and physical effects of war, and how the characters are affected by the end of the battle. Although the novel does portray many themes, imagery, and is told in different perspectives to convey the story, let’s take a look into the physical and emotional effects of the battle, and how those effects make the story.

Throughout the course of the Civil War around 620,000 lives were lost, of these thousands upon thousands killed, about 51,000 died in the Battle of Gettysburg. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara documents the events during the Battle of Gettysburg from the perspectives of 7 different men, on both sides, who fought through the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. The central theme of The Killer Angels centers around the concept that some decisions are difficult to make because they are neither wrong nor right, as exemplified through Generals who make difficult decisions on the battlefield, question the theology and morals of warfare, and are forced to make decisions with an unknown outcome.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara reveals an incredibly vivid and ruthless story about the Battle of Gettysburg. Although there were many powerful and influential leaders engaged in the Civil War throughout this reading, John Buford is one leader in particular who stood out. John Buford’s leadership played a major role in the Unions victory over the Confederates in the Battle of Gettysburg. Buford’s tactical decision making process and leadership style are two components that contributed to his success.

Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war.

In The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, stories of the events leading up to the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg, as well as the battle itself, are told from both the Northern and Southern perspectives. During the Civil War men fought for various reasons. Shaara uses the thoughts and actions of his characters to identify each person’s purpose for fighting. There were many factors that led men to fight in the Civil War. While soldiers had many reasons to fight, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, brings focus to three major factors and characters: Robert E. Lee fought for his homeland, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain fought for an ideal and Jeb Stuart fought for the glory.

Anthony Tirone Mr. Campbell AP U.S. History 20 October 2014 Book Review: Killer Angels The novel Killer Angels by Michael Shaara portrays the battle of Gettysburg in all of its glory from the perspective of both the Union and the Confederate soldiers.

The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions.

Finally, how you ever seen how the world reacted after an attack? The sorrow, the grief, but most importantly the resilience of the people, who promise to fight against a common cause. Specifically, an example of this was Lincoln’s assassination. Booth planned his attack against Lincoln in hope that he will cause enough mayhem, enough chaos that it will give time for the Confederate Army to restart their war, and win. As the book reads on page 88, “... exposed a Confederate plot to kill the leaders of the national government in an attempt to reverse the results of the Civil War.” As seen, the motive of the attack was clearly seen as try to change what had already happened. The plot was made in order to stop a more equal world from emerging.

War is a complex event. Many different aspect go into the complicated planning of a war from amount of troops or supplies, layout of land and more. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara gives a unquestionable vivid image of the Battle of Gettysburg. In this novel it took place in the span of three days and gives us the points of views from both the Union and Confederate armies. Mr. Shaara’s historical accuracy is spot on from the innermost thoughts of the characters to the geographical location and weather descriptions to allow the readers to get a taste of the novel's to the real life events. Passages like “It rained all that night. The next day was Saturday, the Fourth of July.”( ) really can help put yourself right into the perspective of

The battle of Gettysburg is seen today as the turning point of the war, and after the analysis of these historical documents its clear why the bloodshed at Gettysburg was as significant as it was being able to turn the tides of the war. Two sources that are going to be used in this are a website article from History.com: “Battle of Gettysburg” and a website article from the NeW World Encyclopedia: “Battle of gettysburg”. These sources will be analyzed by their origin, purpose, content, value and limitation in relation to this investigation.